We Live Then We Die
by BAU Intern
Summary: Jane Mitchells was an average Atlanta resident until the world the knew was torn apart forever and replaced with death and despair. When her husband is killed and she finds herself caring and protecting a child she barely knows, she is forced to survive in a world gone mad. will she hod strong to her values of a time gone by, or will she give up all she has ever known to survive?


**BAU Intern here! I come to you today bearing a new story in a new fandom! I have been toying around with this idea for a while now, and I already have a few chapters ready to go. Before I publish them and commit to another series, I just wanted to see what you guys thought. This is a prologue for the story, just to give you an idea of what I'm shooting for and to introduce you to my protagonist Jane Mitchells. Let me know what you guys think and if you like what you read I will post more!**

"Hand me the knife." She ordered. Jeffery handed her the small blade, observing her every move with the eyes of a hungry student. Jane made the incision, peeling back the tissue and the two looked into the organ. "Damn." Jane mumbled, her head slightly turned away. "Poor kid. Wish the parents had kept a better eye on him." he said, a flush of sadness in his eyes.

Jane put the scalpel down on the metal tray and removed her mask and gloves. She walked over to the desk in the corner of the white sterile room and removed a pen from her lab coat and picked up a clip board. "Ok let's see, Connor Jenkins, age 3. Caucasian, red hair, 2 ft 3 inches, 34 pounds, blood type O. Cause of death: severe chemical burns to the stomach lining caused by the ingestion of bleach" She shook her head and finished her note.

"Remind me to ask the family if we can have his organs when I present the findings to them." He looked up from examining the esophagus and intestines to his mentor. "His organs?" She looked back at him and furrowed her brow. "Of course. Children need organ transplants too. Adult transplants are too big for little kids. We will have to see if the organs will still be viable after a poisoning, but considering his age and size it would be worth it. You should know this Jeffy." He gave a small glance to the boy laying lifeless and cold on the metal table in front of him.

"I know that mam, I guess that I just don't like to think about it is all." She clicked her pen closed and placed her clipboard at her side. "It's your job to know. your a medical examiner now. you need to constantly be thinking ahead, think about the cause and affect of things. how this person died. what could have been done to prevent it. never miss the details. do you understand Jeffery?" She said, taking one step closer to her with every word. She looked into his eyes, seeing that the mix of her unnerving lecture and the thick stench of formaldehyde in the small room were close to setting off his asthma.

Jane decided that it was best to lay off her young apprentice for the time being and return to her report. Jeffery took his teachers hint and studied the body once more. After a few long minutes of silence, Jeffery looked up from his work and looked at Jane. "Hey, Doctor Mitchells?" He asked. "Yes Jeffy?" she said, still writing on her clipboard, not looking up. "Do ya think that, maybe this time, I could inform the family?" She stopped at his words and looked up. "I mean, ive been studying under you for almost three months now, so, I figure that this would be a good next step for me."

She paused for a moment and looked him up and down, reading his body language carefully. "Are you sure you're ready?" He gave her a small smile. "It's my job to be. Im a medical examiner now." She returned his smile. "So, can I doc?" She twisted her pen in between her fingers and thought to herself for a moment. "What would you tell them?" He glanced at his own clipboard, filled with pages of his more unofficial notes and then back at her. "Well, I would offer my condolences of course, and then I would explain the basic cause of their sons death. I would answer any questions they had, and only go into detail if they asked." She pressed her pen against her lips and slowly nodded. "Ok, that all sounds good. Now, tell me Jeffy, who would you tell all that to?" He arched his eyebrow at her question and crinkled his nose. "Well the family, course." She placed her clipboard down onto the desk and walked back over to the slab.

"Come over here." Jeffery followed his mentors instruction and rolled over to the head of the boy. "Open his mouth." As he did so she shone the overhead light in a better position. "Now, tell me what you see." He looked in, turning the head from side to side, pushing the tongue down to get a full view. "All I see are blisters from the bleach." He said, looking up at her trying to understand her meaning. "What about them? Is there anything unusual?" He returned his gaze to the mouth, careful not to let his dark curly hair block the light. "Well, there are a good few more near the back of the throat, like he was lying down. That's a little weird. If a kid drinks something he does it standing or sitting, not lying down. especially not this much." Jane smiled watching the gears in her young pupils mind start to turn. "And there's something weird about some of these blisters too... hold on I gotta check somethin'."

He rolled his chair down to where the stomach was still laid out as Jane kept pace with the light. "This doesn't make any sense." He said. "What doesn't make any sense? Talk it out. Think it through." Some of these blisters have begun to heal. In fact they're in different stages of healing. But that indicates multiple injuries. You can't drink bleach more than once though." He rattled. "In small enough doses you can." He looked up from the raw tissue and into her eyes with a sickly expression.

"Münchhausen syndrome." He said. "Worse. Munchausen Byproxy. Instead of just making themselves sick for attention and pity, they make someone else sick for the attention." Jeffery leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes. "This kid was tortured." Jane examined the tissue again. "It looks like he was sick for a long time too." Jeffery stood up and walked over to the kid and gave him a sad smile. "Don't worry Connor, they can't hurt you any more. you're safe with us."

He bit his lip and turned to Jane. "Now what?" She watched his expression turn from one of exhaustive sadness to fury. "Well, I already have the report written up, all done and signed. Security should be upstairs doing their rounds. Here." She waited for him to take off his gloves and then handed him the paperwork. "A copy of my notes, autopsy report, and medical conformation of child abuse." He looked at the papers in his hand then up to her. "Me?" He asked. "You wanted to inform the family. what better way than with a pair of handcuffs. But don't think that this means I don't want you straight back to clean up my morgue and put Connor back on ice." He turned to the boy and then back to Jane. "Thanks doc." She gave him a nod and he ran up the stairs, his sneakers squeaking on the tile steps.


End file.
